In June this year, after three months of steady recovery, the EU's clothing imports fell sharply again, with import volume down 9.9% year-on-year, import value down 13.2% in euros and 14.1% in US dollars. From March to May, the EU's clothing imports had maintained double-digit growth.
Data show that in the first half of this year, the EU's clothing imports fell by 8.1% year-on-year, and the import value fell by 2.6% in euros and 2.9% in US dollars. Compared with five years ago, the EU's clothing imports fell by 25% in volume, and the import value fell by 4% and 32% in euros and US dollars respectively.
In June this year, the unit price of EU clothing imports fell by 3.7% year-on-year in euros and 4.6% year-on-year in US dollars, although the decline narrowed month by month. In the first half of the year, the unit price of EU clothing imports fell by 9.9% and 10.2% year-on-year in euros and US dollars respectively.
Among imports from various countries, the EU's clothing imports from China in June decreased by 17.8% year-on-year, and the import value decreased by 19% year-on-year in euros, of which the unit price of Chinese clothing decreased by 1.9%. In contrast, the unit price of clothing from other sources fell by 5%. In the same month, the EU's clothing imports from Bangladesh decreased by 2.4% year-on-year, and the import value decreased by 6% year-on-year in euros, while in the period from April to May, these two indicators increased by 40.7% and 29.5% respectively.
At present, it is not clear whether the decline in EU clothing imports is a temporary fluctuation or a reversal of trend, and further data observation and analysis are needed.